The mostly known device of this type is the IC card such as for example a SIM card (Subscriber Identification Module) or a credit card, but it can also be a USB—Universal Serial Bus—key, a mass memory card, or any kind of token carrying some necessary credentials.
Such tokens are typically compliant with international standard ISO7816.
Personal tokens have been proposed which include communication software implementing TCP/IP protocol. IP and TCP are well-known. IP defines the format of the packets to be exchanged over the internet, as well as the way to indicate the addresses for such packets before dropping them onto the internet.
TCP adds the ability for the network to process the packets, in particular TCP defines the way the packets are transmitted while delivering them in compliance with the expected order to the destinary end-point.
IP is focused on packet addressing and routing while TCP brings transmission reliability. TCP/IP is about an association between a postman and an accountant. The accountant checks that every packet sent has been received and acknowledged. SIM cards have been proposed which are able to behave like a IP end-node, i.e. SIM cards which store and appear on the internet with an IP address so as to implement internet services.
Other cards include a web browser so as to implement bidirectional communication with a remote other end-point.
Some SIM cards have in particular been proposed which store and make available on the internet a personal blog, i.e. a web server with personal information such as way of life, and day-to-day personal information.
Despite the benefits of such a scheme, it appears that developments relating to a card on the Web tend to use the card as an additional system which is dedicated to authentication, and as such which should continue to remain in its usual role of simple exchanges with a hosting device (handset, PC) for simple authentication purposes and this appears to reduce the potentialities of the card, either for authentication purposes or more generally for service purposes such as user applications.
In such respect it is a main purpose of the invention to provide a personal token such as an IC card that is enhanced as to service capabilities. Telecommunications are becoming key elements of our lives. The explosion of the traffic is reflecting the popularity of mobile communications and dsl based broadband access to the Internet has now become a mature and widespread technology.
However, in this increasingly connected world, the complexity of the services proposed to the subscriber keeps on growing, reducing in consequence the satisfaction of the end user. Today, different networks are dedicated to different services. Boundaries within service providers are restricting services availability on different device platforms without caring about the overall consistency of the user experience.
But users do not want to live in a world of unconnected communication islands. Nor they want to worry about technical details like the access technology; they are only interested in the offered services, their quality and costs. They are expecting cheap telephony, multimedia services, security, and a personalized environment accessible with a uniform interface from all of their connection devices such as mobile handset, game station, laptops, desktops, set top boxes.